WSB and Bycatch

[steveooo]

Fun morning of kayak fishing on July 3^rd

Launched about 4:30 am with 2 friends. We see the fleet off in the distance, which gives us a good straight line to paddle towards in the dark.

About ½ a mile short of the fleet I start seeing some decent marks on the sonar. I drop down the squid jig and pull up 4 squirts instantly. Cool, this looks like a good spot. We are all able to make bait pretty quickly. About 10 drops in, the glow tady I have on the bottom of my squid jig gets hit on the drop. I make quick work of it, and have a 40lb class wsb at the boat in about 2 minutes. He was still a bit green, and I was a bit unprepared, so I farmed him at gaff, and somehow ended up with the treble hook from my iron buried in the back of my had. Pull it out easily- I was lucky it didn’t bury past the barbs. Smooth move ex-lax

No worries. I do know one this at this point. We are in a spot that has good bait, and game fish on it. No way I’m headed toward where the fleet is parked now. I prefer to fish for fish, not boats.

2 more hookups on the iron, and the hook pulls on both fish. I’m really not a fan of the new red treble hooks that Tady puts on their glow irons. They have a funky angled bend in them. I’ve lost 6 fish on them in the last 2 seasons, where my hookup/ landing ratio was pretty near 100% with just the plain old trebles they used to use. I guess I have a new project to do this weekend, and will be switching out some hooks.

After 3 failed hook-ups, I’m a bit frustrated, but keep fishing. By now, the 2 buddies I’m with both hooked up and landed nice a nice ghost each.

I finally get picked up on the dropper loop that was about 10 cranks off the bottom. Feels like the right kind. 2 good runs and this one comes to the boat pretty easy. Gaff the fish, about a 45 lb WSB. Cool, skunk off, and I’m starting to feel better about the morning



Get him secured and I drop down one more time. This time I do about 15 cranks off the bottom, where I see good meter marks. I get picked up pretty quickly, but this one feels different. Long steady runs with massive headshakes. Felt like a halibut, but I was fishing mid column, so I was a bit puzzled.

When I get it to deep color, I see a huge angel shark at the end of my line. As I get it a little closer to the kayak, I did a double take. What I thought was an angel shark was actually a big halibut, and what I thought was one of the “wings” on the angel shark was actually a 20lb class halibut trying to mate with my hooked fish

The 20lb fish spooks, and heads for the bottom. I start making preparations on the yak to land the fish. First order of business was to get my game clip off the wsb I had just landed. Then make sure everything is leashed down, just in case all hell breaks loose.

I get everything situated, I start pedaling forward to try to get the fish on plane for a good gaff shot. I get her up and I get a good belly shot with the gaff, which keeps her calm. Get her on the game clip pretty easily. Has a few tense moments where she thrashed prior to me being able to get a secondary rope on her to secure her, but I was lucky the game clip stayed closed on her.

The stupid part of me wanted to keep fishing, but the sensible part of me won, and I decided to head in with almost 100lbs of nice white meat strapped in the back of my overloaded kayak. Taking an OTW picture with 2 big fish on the kayak isn’t as easy as it looks



2 years ago on July 3^rd I landed my personal best 40+lb halibut off the kayak. July 3^rd is turning into a lucky day for me, as I was able to beat my previous PB by a couple pounds. I know what I’m doing next July 3^rd…

Steve